Rawalpindi: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over recent US statements despite decades of cooperation, said a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s public relations wing.

The army chief received two phone calls from US Centcom Commander General Joseph Votel and one from a US senator over the week to discuss Pak-US security cooperation following President Donald Trump’s tweet, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.

Bajwa said Pakistan shall continue its sincere counter terrorism efforts even without US financial support in accordance with our national interest while being committed to bring it to its logical conclusion along with other stakeholders.

The ISPR quoted the COAS as saying that Pakistan has suffered hugely due to great power contestation in the region. “We are fully aware of US concerns on activities of Afghan nationals in Pakistan and we are already undertaking multiple actions through Operation Raddul Fasaad to deny any residual capacity to terrorists of all hue and colour for which return of Afghan refugees is an essential prerequisite.”

“Pakistan is also strengthening border controls unilaterally but if Afghanistan genuinely feels affected from Pakistan , bilateral border management must be Kabul’s top priority as well,” General Bajwa said.

Trump, in a New Year tweet, accused Pakistan of lies and deceit. “They give safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he said on January 1. His remarks led to tense relations between Pakistan and the US.

According to the ISPR, COAS Bajwa said that the entire Pakistani nation felt betrayed over recent US statements despite decades of cooperation .